1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to controlling body odor arising from the degradation or decomposition of perspiration produced by the skin. More particularly, the present invention pertains to devices, systems and methods for controlling body odor by deactivating bacterial organisms on the skin responsible for the degradation or decomposition of perspiration into body odor.
2. Brief Discussion of the Related Art
Various skin areas of the body contain sweat glands that produce perspiration, or sweat, on the surface of the skin. Various metabolic or biological processes play a role in the production of perspiration including temperature regulation, physical activity or exertion, emotional stress such as anger, fear and excitement, hormonal fluctuations, menopause, medicinal effects, and disease. Perspiration produced by the sweat glands appears on the surface of the epidermis, which constitutes the outermost layer of the skin. The sweat glands themselves are found in the reticular region of the dermis, the layer of the skin located just beneath the epidermis. Some skin areas of the body perspire more profusely than others, one reason being the higher density or concentration of sweat glands in some skin areas of the body. Furthermore, some skin areas of the body where perspiration is produced have only limited exposure to light and/or air due to their anatomical location and/or their being normally covered by clothing. The axillae, otherwise known as the underarms or armpits, and the feet are skin areas of the body where perspiration is produced, oftentimes profusely, and where there is typically minimal light and ventilation resulting in a damp environment. These skin areas present an environment especially favorable to the proliferation of various bacterial organisms that ordinarily colonize the surface of the epidermis and become mixed with the perspiration produced thereon. These organisms, including Corynebacterium xerosis, Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum, Corynebacterium minutissimum, Staphylococcus epidermis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus and Bacillus licheniformis, are not easily removable from the skin even by vigorous washing with soap and water. Soap and water are ineffective to deactivate the bacterial organisms ordinarily found on the skin, and these organisms even demonstrate a resistance to available antibiotics including penicillin and methycillin. Where the skin areas are not readily accessible due to their anatomical location and/or being covered by clothing, as is the case for the underarms and feet, perspiration produced on the skin surface during the course of a person's normal day typically cannot be dried, wiped or washed away soon after being produced. Furthermore, hairs growing from the skin surface, as is often the case for the underarms in particular, may act to trap or retain perspiration on or against the skin. Consequently, the perspiration produced on the skin of the underarms and feet will typically remain on and/or in contact with the skin surface for a considerable length of time, thusly creating the sustained damp or moist environment that is typical of the underarms and feet and that favors the proliferation of bacterial organisms. In addition to bacterial organisms, dead skin cells that continually slough off of the epidermis are normally present on the surface of the skin and become mixed with the perspiration produced thereon.
Although perspiration by itself is essentially an odorless fluid, the degradation or decomposition of perspiration by the bacterial organisms on the skin causes an offensive odor, commonly referred to as body odor, to be produced. Dead skin cells mixed in with the perspiration are also subject to degradation and decomposition by the bacterial organisms, and may exacerbate body odor. The underarms and feet provide an optimal environment for the production of body odor in that a larger population of bacterial organisms may be available to effect degradation or decomposition of perspiration, a greater quantity of perspiration may be available for degradation or decomposition by the bacterial organisms, degradation or decomposition of perspiration into body odor may occur at a faster rate due to the larger population of bacterial organisms and/or the greater quantity of perspiration, and/or degradation or decomposition of perspiration into body odor may occur over a longer period of time due to the conditions favorable to the production of body odor being sustained for relatively long periods of time. Although other skin areas of the body besides the underarms and feet produce perspiration, the hands being an example, they are not viewed as causing body odor due to such other skin areas producing a relatively minimal amount of perspiration, being more regularly exposed to light and/or air, and/or being more readily accessible for drying, wiping, washing or otherwise removing the perspiration therefrom soon after it is produced thereby presenting an environment not especially conducive to the degradation or decomposition of perspiration into body odor. Accordingly, the skin areas of the underarms and feet have become predominantly associated with body odor, i.e. the odor arising from the degradation or decomposition of perspiration produced by the skin. Odors having causes other than perspiration may emanate from the body but are not “body odor” because they do not arise from the degradation or decomposition of perspiration produced by and on the skin and, more particularly, from the degradation or decomposition of perspiration by bacterial organisms found on the skin. The mouth, the tongue, and the vaginal canal are examples of body areas that may emanate odors not related to or arising from skin perspiration.
Body odor is a great cause of concern for most individuals due to the adverse impact that body odor has on many aspects of a person's life. Individuals afflicted with body odor oftentimes experience various problems and disorders including social anxiety, social isolation or withdrawal, lack of confidence, embarrassment, humiliation, low self-esteem, shame, frustration, educational underachievement, employment difficulties and unsuccessful interpersonal relationships. In view of the widespread aversion to body odor and the fact that regular washing of the skin with soap and water does not effectively control body odor, various commercial deodorant products dedicated to controlling body odor have been proposed for use on the underarms and feet.
Commercial underarm deodorant products are typically chemically formulated substances provided in a medium allowing a layer, coating or film of the substance to be applied to the surface of the skin in the areas of the underarms. Commercial underarm deodorant products most commonly contain both a chemical anti-perspirant component and a chemical anti-odor component. Less commonly, commercial underarm deodorant products contain a chemical anti-odor component without an anti-perspirant component. The anti-perspirant components found in commercial underarm deodorant products use chemical agents to inhibit the production of perspiration on the surface of the skin. Commercial underarm deodorant products that have an anti-perspirant component thusly attempt to control body odor by reducing the amount of perspiration produced by and on the skin, but do not directly act on the underlying bacterial organisms responsible for degrading or decomposing the perspiration into body odor. The anti-perspirant components are oftentimes of limited effectiveness and the benefits derived therefrom are oftentimes of short duration. The anti-odor components found in commercial underarm deodorant products generally comprise chemical agents selected for their ability to diffuse odor. In many products, the anti-odor components attempt to absorb or merely mask the odor. Like the anti-perspirant components, the anti-odor components do not directly act on the underlying bacterial organisms responsible for degrading or decomposing perspiration into body odor. The anti-odor components, like the anti-perspirant components, oftentimes are of limited effectiveness and the benefits derived therefrom are oftentimes of short duration.
Because commercial underarm deodorant products are applied to the skin and are allowed to remain on the skin, it is possible for the chemical agents in the products to be absorbed by the body via the skin. Exposure to the chemical agents in underarm deodorant products is a cause of concern, especially in view of recent scientific evidence suggesting that the chemical agents used in commercial underarm deodorant products may be potentially harmful to humans. For example, many commercial underarm deodorant products contain aluminum which has been implicated in some scientific studies as a causative factor in Alzheimer's Disease and in cancer. The health risks associated with exposure to the chemical agents in underarm deodorant products may be exacerbated by the fact that underarm deodorant products are often copiously applied by individuals to their skin, the fact that the skin of the underarms is in close proximity to the axillary lymph nodes, the fact that underarm deodorant products are used by most individuals with regular frequency, i.e. usually at least once daily, the fact that underarm deodorant products typically remain on the skin for a significant length of time after being applied to the skin, and the fact that underarm deodorant products are used by most individuals over a major part of their lifetime. Despite potential health risks and the limited efficacy of commercial underarm deodorant products, such products remain widely used due to the stigma associated with body odor and the lack of viable alternatives to commercial underarm deodorant products.
Commercial foot deodorant products have many of the same disadvantages as commercial underarm deodorant products. In addition, the irregular anatomy of the feet makes it particularly difficult to apply foot deodorant products to the surface of the skin of the feet, especially the areas of and between the toes. Foot deodorant products are commonly provided as sprays or powders which are difficult to control during application and which are messy. Like commercial underarm deodorant products, commercial foot deodorant products attempt to control foot odor by reducing perspiration and/or by diffusing foot odor but do not address the issue of bacterial organisms responsible for degrading or decomposing perspiration on the feet into body odor.
Metal devices such as those called the Rub-A-Way and the OdorSteeler have been proposed for use in removing food odors, such as onion and garlic odors, from the hands. Unlike body odor, which results from perspiration produced by a person's body itself and from the degradation or decomposition of the perspiration by bacterial organisms on the person's skin, food odor is imparted to a person's hands as a result of direct contact with odoriferous foods. When the hands directly contact the odoriferous food, the odor of the food itself is transferred to the hands and may linger thereon for some time. The hands are the only skin areas of the body that would normally come into direct contact with odoriferous foods, and use of the aforementioned metal devices is thereby limited to the hands. Since the hands are not considered areas of the body where body odor is produced, the metal devices proposed for removing food odors from the hands are not relevant to the issue of body odor, which is an entirely different odor than food odor and which arises in different areas of the body than the hands.
Japanese Patent No. 2001186997A pertains to a device, formed mainly of stainless steel fibers of a specified diameter, for polishing and deodorizing the fingertips. The fibers provide an abrasive, textured or coarse surface for physically separating odor molecules from the skin so that the separated molecules can be washed away with water. The device relies on abrasion of the skin, which necessarily inflicts trauma to some extent. Use of the device on the fingertips shows it to be unrelated to body odor arising from perspiration.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,365 B1 and No. 6,589,216 B1 to Abbott et al disclose vaginal douche applicators with stainless steel surfaces for neutralizing odor in the vaginal canal. The vaginal odor to which the Abbott et al patents pertain is different from body odor that results from skin perspiration. The anatomical tissue within the vaginal canal is anatomically unlike the skin of the underarms and feet and does not contain sweat glands that produce perspiration.